Rudbeckia subtomentosa Henry Eilers

The Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers', related to the large coneflowers, is a tall perennial plant, astonishing, melliferous, essential in a natural garden. Generous and highly floriferous, it is adorned with dark green and velvety foliage, up to the top of its very sturdy floral stems against the wind. From summer to autumn, without interruption, pleasantly scented flowers succeed each other, resembling yellow daisies with large brown-redish centres, original with their rolled up ligule collars that widen into spatulas at their tips. Loved by insects and birds, this wild-looking plant will be appreciated by gardeners at the back of flower beds. When autumn comes, its sunny flowering will mix with the flamboyant foliage of bushes. While it tolerates dry soils well, this rudbeckia is more beautiful in deep and moist soil, in the sun but also in partial shade.

The Rudbeckia subtomentosa belongs to the aster family. This large perennial, native to the American Midwest, the Ozark Mountains, and the southern Great Plains of the USA, grows wild in diverse places such as open wooded areas, dry or wet meadows, or along streams. Henry Eilers, a passionate horticulturist, discovered and named the cultivar 'Henry Eilers'. This plant surpasses a wild population of R. subtomentosa, and sports original flowering, planted in the bank of a stream in Illinois. Therefore, it is a particularly robust and resistant perennial, capable of surviving drought, unaffected by strong winds, and adapts well to difficult soils.

It forms a clump of strong and very erect stems, easily reaching a height of 1.50 m (5ft), with a spread of 60 to 70 cm (24 to 28in). Its foliage consists of entire, alternate, ovate and elongated leaves with a tapered tip. They are thick and hairy and have a beautiful dark green colour. They are larger towards the bottom of the stem. When dry, the leaves emit a fragrance reminiscent of vanilla. When the flowering appears, usually in late summer, the spectacle continues. Equally as surprising, there is the appearance of solitary daisy-like heads at the end of the long stems, 6 cm (2in) in diameter, with entirely rolled up golden yellow ligulate petals, curiously flattened at the tips. They surround a slightly prominent central cone, dark brown with purple reflections. The seeds left in place attract birds, feeding goldfinches and tits at the beginning of winter.

Take advantage of the strong presence of rudbeckia to associate it with ephemeral flowering plants within a cottage garden-style 'mix-border'. Choose varieties with softer, almost pastel shades to calm or even tame this plant's conquering yellow. Positioned in the background, this plant will be very effective with asters, grasses (Panicum virgatum), vine garlands (clematis Grace), perennials (silver queen wormwood, white valerian, alabaster agastache rugosa and bergamot), and dahlia bulbs (bishop of Dover and Leicester varieties). Planted en masse in front of shrub borders, Rudbeckia Henry Eilers will be magnificent combined with the autumn foliage of deciduous spindles, cotinus, hydrangea quercyfolia, parrotia persica.